Financial closure for TN project in 3 months: Patel Energy

Patel Energy aims to achieve financial closure for its Rs 5,000-crore thermal project in Tamil Nadu in three months, a top company official said today.

"We are setting up a 1,050-mw thermal plant in Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu. The investment here is around Rs 5,000 crore. We should achieve financial closure (tying up with lenders for funds) for the project in next three months," Patel Engineering managing director Rupen Patel told PTI here.

The debt-equity ratio will be 80:20 and the company is in the process of appointing a lead-banker for this, he added.

Patel Energy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Rs 2,800-crore infrastructure major Patel Engineering.

All approvals for the TN project have been obtained and the company will be setting up its own jetty as well, he said.

Besides Tamil Nadu, the company is also setting up a 1,200-mw thermal plant in Gujarat for around Rs 5,500 crore.

"We are aiming for the financial closure of this project in the next six-eight months. A few regulatory approvals are still awaited," Patel said.

The company, therefore, intends to first focus on the Tamil Nadu project, which it expects to commission in the next 30 months.

Patel Energy has also obtained coal linkage for both its projects from the government. "Coal deliveries are expected in 24 months from now," the managing director Patel said.

While the Tamil Nadu power project will get coal from the Mahanadi Coalfields, the Gujarat project would source coal from the Western Coalfields, he further said.

When asked if the company is planning to go public, Patel replied in the negative. "There are no listing plans at present; we will look at PE funds or roping in a strategic partner," he added.

"Our board will meet in the next one month to decide on this issue. We propose only a marginal dilution of around 10 per cent," he said.